Ayrshire Scotland Business News is provided by the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire. We publicise our members, and celebrate and report the wealth and rich diversity of entrepreneurial and business excellence that abounds here in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland. For further information e-mail Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle

Saturday, 21 May 2011

Recognising the difficult trading conditions and the need for all local businesses to attract new customers and keep in touch with their existing customers online business and community directory Locallife Ayrshire is now offering the use of the “Online Marketing Toolkit” for less than £1 a day.

For less than £1 per day Locallife Ayrshire gives any business access to 6 pages of tailored useable space including online voucher creation, special offers and promotions, plus the facility to send up to 1000 emails each month linked to the offers and discounts.

In addition your website is linked to a national and international network of Locallife sites.

Locallife Ayrshire managing director Robin Sinclair (pictured above) commented: “For those who doubt the benefit of using online local directory promotion, compared to press advertising, ask yourself why most regional newspapers have been busy setting up their own local directories!"

The new Locallife Ayrshire packages consist of:

Select package - £32 per month (£320 plus VAT)

Logolink and description plus access to online marketing toolkit and category listing. Promote your offers and make use of Locallife email facility!

Premium package - £45 per month (£450 plus VAT)

Logolink and description plus access to online marketing toolkit and category listing on top ten page. Be one of the top ten businesses on your category page! First come first served!

Platinum package - £50 per month (£500 plus VAT)

Logolink on home page plus access to online marketing toolkit. Have your position on our home page! Limited spaces available!

Payment terms

Monthly payments are by standing order with two payments up front and then 10 equal payments.

Thursday, 19 May 2011

Scotland’s leading independent property consultancy CKD Galbraith’s Ayr Office is marketing a lovely example of a traditional farmhouse with original courtyard steading, set quietly in the rolling Irvine Valley in East Ayrshire.

Less than 4 miles from Newmilns, with lovely views over the surrounding countryside, is Eastfield, a charming four bedroom farmhouse with adjoining outbuildings surrounding an enclosed courtyard.

The local area is steeped in history and industrial heritage. The nearby towns of Newmilns and Darvel, once known as “The Lace Town”, were historically the centre of the Ayrshire lace-making industry and well known for their exports throughout the world. There are also connections with the Earls of Loudon and with Robert the Bruce, who fought and won the battle of nearby Loudon Hill in 1307.

Eastfield dates from around 1863 and retains much of its original character and appeal. There are 4 bedrooms, including a stunning loft bedroom with lovely views, three reception rooms, farmhouse kitchen and ancillary utility areas. The present owners have done much to modernise the house whilst retaining it’s intrinsic charm and taking care to retain as much as possible of the original and sometimes eclectic features of the property.

From the courtyard at the rear can be gained a sense of the original working farm. Stone walls enclose the yard and outline the ruins of a former piggery and cattle byre. The present layout includes a range of barns, currently utilised as stables and storage sheds. The substantial byre to the eastern wing of the house could, subject to planning consent, be incorporated into the house to extend the existing accommodation. In addition, planning permission exists for the conversion of the western side of the yard to create a separate two bedroom house.

The courtyard overlooks grounds of around 1.8 acres, attractively laid out to include a mature copse and a substantial pond which provides an attractive focal point.

This is a rare opportunity to purchase a delightful traditional farm steading in this quiet and picturesque part of Ayrshire. Offers Over £310,000 are being sought.

The partnership provides the full range of property consulting services across the commercial, residential and rural sectors throughout Scotland. The company enjoys a successful relationship with its associate firm in London, CKD Kennedy Macpherson.

The company’s rural arm specialises in farm sales and purchases, the management and sale of large estates and woodland, valuations and building surveying work.

Graeme (pictured below) gave a presentation about Kestrel Press past, present and future, and there followed a conducted tour of the company’s printing plant.

Special guest at the meeting was Dr Charles Aryiku, Scotland’s first Honorary Consul-General for Ghana, who addressed the meeting about his plans for a Ghana/Scotland Trade Exhibition in Ayr Town Hall in September.

A buffet breakfast for members and guests was provided by Irvine-based Tasteee Catering Services, who recently joined the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle.

But the star of the show was undoubtedly Ayr-based singer Kelly Mathieson (pictured above), who opened the meeting with a memorable rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables”, and brought proceedings to a close with “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” from “Phantom of the Opera”.

Elite Ayrshire Business Circle managing director Murdoch MacDonald commented: “This was truly an outstanding meeting, and our first to be held in Irvine.

“We hope that many other companies in all parts of Ayrshire will follow the example of Kestrel Press and Tasteee Catering Services and join our ever-increasing membership.”

A full selection of downloadable photographs taken at this meeting can be found on the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle site on Flickr. CLICK HERE

THE EDITORThe Editor of Ayrshire Scotland Business News is Murdoch MacDonald, a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge University, where his journalistic contemporaries included John Simpson, now World Affairs Editor with the BBC, and Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian. Murdoch MacDonald has been in the public relations industry and a freelance journalist and broadcaster for more than 35 years.He has handled the PR accounts of many top Scottish companies, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, John Menzies, Kwik-Fit and Barratt Homes.

He has hosted his own family finance programmes - "£s, Pence and Sense" on Radio Forth and "Moneywise" on Scottish Television.He now runs Ayrshire’s top PR consultancy Fame Publicity Services.

Wherever you are in the world, no other public relations consultancy, PR firm or publicity company can offer you a better or more cost-effective worldwide news distribution service, combined with search engine optimisation techniques that will drive customers and qualified sales leads to your company's website.

Murdoch MacDonald is also managing director of the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire.Telephone: 01292 281498E-mail: Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

Murdoch and his wife Lilian (pictured above) have written a book called "Phoenix in a Bottle", describing how they overcame alcoholism and are now, contrary to conventional wisdom, able to drink alcohol responsibly again. "Phoenix in a Bottle" is published by Melrose Books price £16.99 and is now available worldwide.Reviewing the book, eminent American addiction expert Dr Stanton Peele PhD commented:

“Phoenix in a Bottle is a modern version of The Days of Wine and Roses, and tells the true story of how two people who entered a period of desperate drinking stayed with one another in a close loving relationship, and emerged from their alcoholism able to drink responsibly again.

“Both a wonderful love story and a challenge to conventional wisdom about how people can recover from drinking problems, Phoenix in a Bottle gives people hope, and helps them to confront their own demons - alcohol or otherwise.”

And now "Phoenix in a Bottle" has been selected as a set text by a top American university.

“Phoenix in a Bottle” by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald will now be required reading for all doctoral students in a psychology programme at Alliant International University in San Diego, California.

Alliant International University, headquartered in San Diego and San Francisco, California, was formed in 2001 by the merger of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and the United States International University. Alliant has 6 campuses throughout California and also runs programmes in Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant is one of the premier psychology schools in the US, and it counts roughly half the licensed clinical psychologists in California as its alumni.

Dr. Gary W. Lawson is Professor of Psychology at CSPP. He says: “I adopted Phoenix in a Bottle because the dilemma this couple struggled with and the questions they ask themselves are like so many others I have encountered in 35 years of clinical experience treating addictions.“However, nowhere in addiction literature have I seen these issues examined and explained as well as Lilian and Murdoch do in Phoenix in a Bottle.“I also recommend Phoenix in a Bottle to many of my patients as well.”

You can buy "Phoenix in a Bottle" by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald online now direct from Amazon UK (click on book cover image below).